Yesterday afternoon, a mission lasting about six hours was carried out by an ATR P-72B (reg. MM62315) of the Italian Customs (Guardia di Finanza). The aircraft, which took off from Pratica di Mare Air Base around 4:00 PM CEST, headed south of Sardinia before moving west, operating also in the stretch of sea between the Italian island and Algeria.
The aircraft then diverted towards the Sicilian Channel before returning to base. This is not an unprecedented mission (in the past we have tracked similar missions also operated by aircraft of the Italian Air Force), but it was difficult to track in its entirety (and yesterday, aside from about ten minutes, it was).
We do not know the nature of the mission, but it is likely carried out in the context of controlling the Italian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in an area, at the border with Algeria’s zone, where the boundary has yet to be precisely defined, and where Algiers is making claims not recognized by Rome.
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